Video Games

I am going to try and be light today since the previous ones have been a bit sappy.

Today I was thinking about video games and how they stand up to the test of time.  What makes a game stand up to the test?  Is it simply nostalgia and really the games suck?  Is it that the games have an engaging mode where playing them over and over makes them fun?

For me, I think that it has to invoke all of those.  A good game that will make me want to play it again and again is a game that I don't have to remember the controls, because they are ingrained into my being.  Whether it be from me playing them so much, or because they are just easy to get.

But much like a good book or a good movie it has to draw you in somehow.  Some of my favorite games to go replay are the classic Megaman games.  Why?  Because they are a challenge and with patience and practice you can beat them.  It is not the story, its not the graphics, it is just that the games are fun to play, and rarely do you call bullshit.

There are other games that it is the story that draws me in.  Sure, the story might be minimal (after all, they did not have much space to work with) but what is there draws you in.

This is a major complaint that I have with a lot of games these days.  How is it that with terrible translation issues, and the simple fact that there was limited space, does a game like Final Fantasy 4 draw me in more than most modern games?

Simple, because they did not rely on being flashy.  They had a story to tell, and by god they were going to tell it.

It is sad that I can play the hell out of Baldur's gate, but when I get to Mass Effect 2, I played it twice.  I might play it again before ME3 comes out, but really it just does not stand up to the test of time.

Or maybe I am getting old.

Yeah, that is probably it.